


Beneath a Smoky Sky

by willow945



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, F/M, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, References to Depression, fun times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willow945/pseuds/willow945
Summary: It’s been three years since Ladybug and Chat Noir became established as the superheroes of Paris and fought their first akuma. Between school, modeling, and battling Hawmoth, Adrien is stretched too thin. Then one night, they are faced with a villain who badly injures one of them.“To think everything must die, for anyone to matter. I will find any way to your wild heart.”-“Wild Heart”, Bleachers
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is only going to be a short fic- I think two chapters in all. It’s really just an idea that came to me late one night, and it’s my first attempt at angst and my first Miraculous fic. Anyway, I hope you like it! Comments are appreciated ;)

Adrien Agreste was tired. God, he was _so tired._

His life, for three years now, had been a monotonous cycle. School, where he laughed and joked with his friends on good days and pasted on a smile to hide his exhaustion and frustration on the bad days, had lost its charms. Fighting akumas, day and night, was tiring and dangerous work, though at least he was granted a brief respite due to the super-powered properties of his suit- properties that disappeared the second he uttered the words “claws in”, leaving him feeling each ache and pain acutely. Modeling, which he had once at least slightly enjoyed, was now unbearable; he hated being forced into it, being expected to maintain an outwardly perfect appearance at the cost of much-needed calories and a social life. Home was not a home anymore, and perhaps it never had been. His father was distant, reticent, and sometimes even cruel. 

The only light in Adrien’s life was Ladybug. 

The second he laid eyes on her, his worries and exhaustion fell away. With her, he could be himself, purely and unashamedly. Over the years, their relationship had deepened remarkably- never to the point of romance, but to the point where he openly thought of her as his best friend. Years of night patrols and facing life-or-death situations almost daily could do that to a pair of people. 

His regular friends tried, they really did. Nino, Marinette, Alya- they all, in their own special ways, helped ease his pain, however slightly. But they couldn’t understand. They never would. Not like she could. 

And as Chat Noir and Ladybug passed the three-year mark from the first akuma battle, he realized that Hawkmoth wasn’t tiring. The man never flagged, sending deadlier and deadlier victims against them. Whatever he wanted, whatever sick wish his twisted mind had invented, he wanted _badly._

But Adrien… he was wearing thin, tugged in too many directions at once. His Lady was, too. He could tell by the exhaustion in her gorgeous blue eyes, the stifled yawns even in the middle of the day, and how she always smelled strongly of coffee to his heightened Chat Noir senses. 

Ladybug, however, remained as beautiful and poised and graceful (and, yes, unattainable) as she’d always been. Her brilliant mind worked as fast as ever, and her compassion towards akuma victims never ceased. She loved this city, and she loved him- platonically, perhaps, but that was okay with Adrien. It was better than the alternative. 

These years of exhaustion and battles culminated in him falling asleep once again in class on a bright April day. 

Mme. Mendeleiev’s voice cut through his blissfully deep sleep. “M. Agreste, if you do not feel well enough for class, perhaps you should leave.”

Adrien groaned softly and cracked open his eyes, the light blinding him. A small pain throbbed in the back of his head, promising a coming headache. “I’ll be fine, Mme.,” he apologized. “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

She huffed and continued with her lesson. _This used to be my favorite class,_ he thought distantly. Now… now, he felt nothing. 

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully, a haze of lessons that Adrien could barely recall and interactions that didn’t matter. Nino and Marinette both seemed concerned after the incident in physics, but he brushed them off with a quip about extra photoshoots. At home, Adrien could barely focus on his homework, and instead opted for lying listlessly on the couch with the TV turned on for noise. 

Plagg, who had just polished off half a wheel of Camembert, came over and hovered just above Adrien’s chest. Before he could even speak, Adrien rubbed his forehead and sighed, “No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Plagg ignored that, in typical fashion. “I’m concerned, kid.”

“About what? Are we out of Camembert?”

The little cat-god just shook his head. “Kid. You’re losing weight, and those circles under your eyes are darker than me!”

Adrien didn’t respond. What could he say? Plagg had been a great friend to him over these years, but he had never been good at understanding his holder’s problems. Human worries and concerns were just beyond his grasp. 

Finally, Plagg shook his head and flew off toward the bed. “If you’re not gonna talk to me, talk to _someone_ ,” he called over his shoulder. 

……….

Two hours later, Adrien was poking at the food on his plate, suffering through another lonely dinner with only Nathalie for company, when his phone buzzed. Though it was in his pocket, he knew at once that it was an akuma alert- he had set those notifications to buzz three times, so he could discreetly make an excuse to leave without anyone knowing why. 

“Nathalie, may I return to my room to practice my Chinese?” he asked, looking up at the stern woman hovering over his shoulder. 

She simply nodded once, curtly, and led him to his room. If she was concerned at how little he’d eaten, she didn’t show it. 

The second Adrien was alone, he opened his jacket to let Plagg fly out. The small god yawned and asked sleepily, “Does this mean I won’t get to finish my nap?”

Adrien laughed lightly and scratched Plagg’s head with his finger. “No, sorry. But it means I’ll get to see Ladybug…”

The little cat sighed, exasperated at the lovesick tone in his holder’s voice. 

“Plagg, claws out!”

……….

As Chat Noir hopped over the rooftops, he hoped that this akuma attack would be brief. But, judging by the smoke rising near the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, this akuma was not going to be an easy one to beat. 

He eventually located Ladybug, standing on a rooftop and overlooking the grim sight on the street below. And boy, it did _not_ look good. 

The akumatized victim this time was a woman dressed in a very fashionable 1700’s-style dress. At least, he thought it was from the 1700’s. Admittedly, most of Chat’s fashion knowledge was modern. 

Anyway, the woman held two swords in her hands. The right one seemed to be a normal sword, but the one on the left was wreathed in flames and seemed to be the source of the fires she’d left in her wake. And was she… _singing?_

Yeah, that was definitely singing. As Chat came to stand beside Ladybug, he could pick out a few words- something about letters and burning and… _oh._

“I think someone’s been listening to too much _Hamilton_ , Milady,” Chat Noir quipped, leaning against his staff. 

She turned to him, amusement flickering in her otherwise tired eyes. “Aww, I didn’t know you were a Broadway fan, kitty.”

He lolled his head to the side, grinning widely. “What can I say? I enjoy listening to a good mewwwsical once in awhile.”

Ladybug groaned, although he thought it was really her fault for setting him up that well. “Not now, Chat. We have bigger problems. Can you cover me?”

He retracted his staff and crouched, readying himself. “Always, Milady.”

And they jumped into battle. 

As it turned out, luck was not on their side that night. The battle was long and harsh and hot. The villain’s fireballs paired with her regular sword made her quite adept at both short- and long-range fighting. They did, however, locate the akumatized object: a large, rather garish brooch in her hair. 

Twenty minutes in, they’d fought the villain down nearly the entire Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Ladybug fell back from an attack and yelled, “Chat! We can’t let her get near the Arc de Triomphe. There could be bystanders!”

Looking around, Chat saw very few options. “It might be time for your lucky charm, Milady!”

She seemed to agree, and after uttering the words, she was rewarded with a screwdriver. Unfortunately, as Ladybug was distracted with trying to make a plan, the villain threw Chat and rushed her, slashing at her with her sword. 

Chat screamed and rushed to help. After knocking the woman back a dozen feet with his staff, he rushed to his Lady. He grabbed ahold of her and launched them onto the nearest rooftop. 

“Ladybug! Are you alright?” He demanded, grabbing her shoulders and searching her face. 

She seemed fine, but a bit pale. “I’m… I’m alright, kitty. Let’s worry about injuries later. Right now, I think I have a plan.”

Chat listened intently as Ladybug laid out the plan, and he hopped a few roofs down to grab the clothesline that she requested. Somehow, she fashioned a slingshot on the rooftop while he headed back down to distract the akuma victim. 

Due to his charm and verbal jabs, the woman was angry enough that she didn’t notice Ladybug taking aim, nor did she notice the screwdriver until it was striking the brooch off her head. 

Laughing triumphantly, Chat snatched it out of the air and snapped it neatly. The akuma fluttered up, perhaps trying to escape, but Ladybug lassoed it from her rooftop perch and purified it. The victim collapsed in the street, morphing back into a middle-aged woman clutching some papers in her hands. Deciding that they’d deal with her in a bit, Chat first vaulted up to the rooftop where Ladybug was waiting. 

She had moved to the opposite side of the roof, facing away from him, staring down at the fires the akuma had caused, and he could faintly hear her earrings beep. As he approached her, he started whistling. “Alright, Milady, let’s get this whole mess cleaned…” He trailed off as she turned to him, her face tight and drawn. “Ladybug? You okay?”

She tried to smile, but it turned to a pained grimace. “Kitty…” she whispered. “It _hurts._ ” Then suddenly, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Milady!” Chat shouted, utterly shocked, as he jumped to catch her and eased her down to lean against the stone balcony wall. He laid her in front of him and noticed that her hands were clenched over her stomach. Frowning, he peeled back Ladybug’s hands and abruptly sucked in a breath. 

This wasn’t good. 

A bloody wound slashed her stomach from beneath her left rib to her right hip. Chat had little medical experience, but it looked deep and very,  _ very  _ fatal. 

Frantically, he shook her shoulders. “Milady! Where’s the lucky charm? We can fix this!”

She opened her eyes and groaned. “Slingshot… it was thrown…”

Chat mentally cursed himself, not just for forgetting that, but also for not noticing her injury earlier. “Alright, I’ll go look for it.” 

He started to get up, but his Lady grabbed his wrist tightly. “No,” she whispered. “Stay.”

Shocked, he slid back down beside her. “But, Milady, your earrings…” As if on cue, they began to beep, signaling they had less than half a minute before she transformed back. 

Ladybug winced, and her hands came back up to grab at her stomach. She let out a bitter laugh. “Chat, I really didn’t think it would happen like this.”

Confused, Chat Noir tried to process that statement. What the hell was she talking about? He stammered, “What… what? Milady, we have to get you to a doctor.”

“No,” she snapped, her eyes suddenly as lucid and achingly beautiful as ever. “No doctor, Chat. We won’t make it in time.”

“Ladybug…” he started desperately, but he was cut off by the insistent beeping from her earrings. He squeezed his eyes shut, but she laid a hand on his, clenched in his lap. 

“ _ Chaton _ , it’s okay. I- I think it’s time.” The rarely-used endearment shocked him into opening his eyes, and she smiled up at him, the expression pained, yet gentle, and something else… nervous?

Chat Noir could barely process what was happening.  _ Yes _ , he wanted this- he wanted to know who she was, wanted to get to know her civilian self, wanted to love her as both Ladybug and a normal teenage girl. But he hadn’t wanted it to be like this. 

Not like this.

He nodded, once, too overcome to say anything. 

Ladybug carefully pried his hands apart and held them in hers. She smiled up at him, softly, sadly, and took a deep breath. A pink glow encompassed her, and then dimmed down to reveal Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

His Lady. His beautiful, courageous, sweet-hearted Lady lay in front of him, bleeding out over her handmade white sweater. Chat softly ran his claws over the flowers she’d embroidered on the sleeves, knowing that they had taken hours because Marinette had complained about them for nearly a week before she’d worn the finished product to school. 

Tikki hovered nearby, over her shoulder, concern lighting her gaze, but said nothing.

As Chat raised his eyes back to Marinette’s eyes- enchanting bluebell eyes that he felt so  _ stupid  _ for missing before- she frowned, and broke his gaze to stare down at the wound marring her stomach. “I’m- I’m sorry, Chat, if I’m not good enough, if I’m not who you thought I’d-“

“No,” he whispered, and hot tears filled his eyes. “You’re  _ perfect _ .”

He pulled her into a tight hug, gathering Marinette’s lithe body into his arms and squeezing as tight as he dared. At first, she stiffened, then relaxed and hugged him back just as tight. 

As they embraced, fires raging in the streets below, Chat’s thoughts ran through his brain at a dizzying speed. Suddenly, thousands of little moments that he’d forgotten, or perhaps pushed to the back of his mind, snapped into focus and made complete, utter sense. 

Ladybug’s stammering and clumsy tripping during their first akuma fight against Stoneheart. The fierce determination that lit Marinette’s eyes when she fought with Chloe. The “lucky charm” Marinette had given Adrien that he still carried in his pocket years later. The blush he thought he’d imagined lighting Ladybug’s face when she met his civilian self. Marinette’s chronic lateness and Ladybug’s habit of sticking her tongue out when she concentrated. 

Ladybug- courageous, determined, beautiful, and brilliant. Marinette- clumsy, endearing, kind-hearted, and amazing.

Chat Noir was surprised, but he was not shocked. Somehow, some _ where _ , deep down in his bones, he’d known. He had always known. 

He pulled back from the embrace, gently holding his Lady by her shoulders. Cupping his hand to her face, he gently wiped the tears streaming down and smiled at her. At  _ Marinette _ , the girl he’d loved without knowing. 

Chat Noir then sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and said, “Plagg, claws out.”

There was a green flash that lit his closed eyelids, and then Adrien opened his eyes to find Marinette staring wide-eyed up at him. A blush colored her cheeks, and he briefly wondered why she was blushing. But before he could fully process that, she burst out laughing. 

Confused, Adrien could only watch as she doubled over, laughing hysterically. His confusion quickly turned to concern as the laughter turned into coughing, and Adrien gathered her into his arms, frantically trying to calm her down. He turned to Plagg, who was hovering with Tikki. 

The small gods’ expressions told him that it wasn’t good. “Plagg, can you try to find the lucky charm?” Adrien asked, desperate. If he could find it in time, there was a possibility they could fix this. 

The cat-god nodded once, sharply, and zipped away. 

Adrien turned back to the girl in his arms, who was still laughing quietly. Was his identity really that funny? What did she think of him? Was she delirious from blood loss? That possibility was concerning. 

He was briefly reminded of how uncomfortable she used to be about him. Was it possible that, all along, she’d hated him?

“Milady… are you alright?”

“Adrien,” Marinette gasped, mirth mingling with the pain in her eyes. “God, we are  _ so  _ stupid.”

At that, Adrien had to chuckle. She was right, as usual, and she didn’t seem angry. 

“So… does this mean that you’re not disappointed?” He asked tentatively.

Marinette giggled, but abruptly stopped with a wince. “No! No, kitty, it’s just…” She looked down, looking slightly embarrassed. “Well, remember how I always rejected you because I was in love with someone else?”

Adrien nodded, not sure where this was going. How could he forget that?

Marinette’s eyes rose to meet his. He could get lost in those eyes for hours, he thought absently. 

“Well, kitty, it seems that the boy I loved was you all along.”

Adrien sat back, utterly shocked this time. Marinette, in  _ love  _ with him? For the second time that evening, a thousand seemingly inconsequential moments made so much sense. He wanted to laugh too, because how could they have been  _ this  _ oblivious? His Lady had been beside him this whole time. 

But as he gazed down at her, he noticed that the light in her blue eyes was dimming. Tears filled his eyes again, painfully hot, and he whispered, “Well, Milady, it seems that we were made for each other.”

She sighed at that, looking up at him with glassy, unfocused eyes. “Oh,  _ chaton _ …”

Tikki, who had been hovering silently above Marinette’s shoulder, let out a squeak of alarm. 

“Marinette! We have to go find someone,” the kwami said, her high-pitched voice relaying her alarm. 

“No, Tikki,” Marinette whispered. “I don’t think… that’s a good idea…but thank you.” The last statement seemed to be referencing something else, something more. Tikki sobbed and flew to cuddle her holder’s cheek. Marinette raised one of her hands to cradle the small god, her other still clutching Adrien’s tightly. 

Her breathing grew more labored, and she gazed up at Adrien. A lump grew in his throat, painful and constricting, the smoke in the air nearly choking him.  _ This can’t be happening _ , he thought, desperate, distraught. God, they were  _ seventeen fucking years old _ . She was the best person in his life, in all of Paris, and she deserved so much more. 

Distantly, Adrien was awarded that Plagg had come back, hovering behind him.  _ Too late _ , a voice whispered in his mind. 

“Marinette,” he started, haltingly, unsure of what to say. He took a deep breath, and tried again. 

“Marinette, I love you.” Her eyes opened wide at that, shocked; he had never truly admitted that, uttered the words like that. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he hugged her closer, and the ache in his heart only grew as he took in her devastatingly beautiful face. As always, she was so close, and yet so far. “I- I can’t do this without you. I can’t imagine life without you.”

“Oh, Adrien,” she murmured, and his name on her lips undid him. He sobbed. Tears ran down her face, too, as he cupped it in his hands. “ _ Chaton _ , I don’t… I don’t want to leave.” Her expression, no longer filled with pain, was somehow peaceful, despite the tears that tracked down her cheeks. 

She gasped, the exertion almost too much. “But I’m… glad… it was with you.” Marinette smiled at him, and for her, through the pain, he smiled back, trembling all over. She took in one last, shuddering breath, and exhaled, his name the last thing to leave her lips. “ _ Chaton… _ ” 

And there, under the smoke and surrounded by raging fires, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug, the Hero of Paris, died.

Her eyes, robbed of life, gazed up at the stars, at the smoke, at the face of the boy she had loved, with the childlike wonder of the girl she used to be; the girl whose life had been stolen long before she had died. 


	3. Chapter 3

Adrien wasn’t sure how long he sat there. 

The grief pressed like a knife, red-hot against his ribs, piercing his skin and consuming him in a blaze of emotion. 

At the same time, inexplicably, he felt removed from his body. He watched detached and powerless as a blonde boy hunched over the still form of a dark-haired girl, shoulders shaking and tears flooding down his face. 

It was absolutely incomprehensible. Ladybug- Marinette-  _ his Lady _ \- was the most vibrant person he knew. If anything, it should be Adrien laying on that rooftop. 

Minutes, or maybe hours later- who knew? who cared?- he was shocked back into reality by a distant scream. He lifted his head and surveyed the scene through blurry eyes- and gasped. 

Paris was in flames. The villain’s fireblasts has started an inferno that had spread from the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and into the surrounding city. And Ladybug- 

Adrien growled, the only thought in his mind a single, horrible name.  _ Hawkmoth.  _

He sprang to his feet, and in a fit of blind rage, punched the balcony wall. He registered the pain, but distantly, the way you can barely hear a voice through water. With a heart-wrenching scream ripped from deep inside, Adrien set about destroying everything on that balcony- flower pots, deck chairs, an ivy-covered trellis- with his bare hands. 

Standing among the wreckage he had caused, Adrien glared at the sky.  _ “Hawkmoth!”  _ he yelled, viciously, in a voice that he wouldn’t have recognized as his own. “ _ You’re dead! When I find out who you are, I will rip that mask from your face and tear you to shreds!” _

As his voice faded away, unheeded, into the night, Adrien could feel the heat of the flames below him. The smoke cloud that hung over Paris was thick and suffocating, and he- he was alone. 

Adrien sank to his knees as fresh tears ran down his face. He was empty, wasted, a forgotten shell of a person. He stared at his hands, trembling and blood-stained and streaked with dirt. The pain was beginning to register as the rage filtered out of him, leaving nothing but hopelessness. 

Plagg hovered silently in front of him, the red and black screwdriver forgotten in his grasp. Tears streaked his face as well. Some faraway part of Adrien’s mind registered that he had never seen Plagg cry before. 

“Oh, kitten,” Plagg whispered, his normally gruff voice even raspier with pain. “I’m sorry.”

Tikki, from behind him, emitted a tiny sob. He knew that she must be with Marinette still, but he couldn’t bring himself to look. Rather, he knelt there, overlooking Paris as it burned.

A bright streak of red flashed in his vision, and Adrien was shaken from his numb mourning. After a second, he was able to register that it was Tikki hovering above him. 

“Come  _ on _ , Adrien,” she reprimanded softly through her tears. “I know you’re mourning-” a sharp sob hiccuped through her at that, but she shook her head and plowed on. “I know you’re mourning, but you can still fix this!”

It took Adrien’s mind a minute to comprehend that statement. Ladybug- God, he could barely  _ think  _ her name without wanting to curl into a ball and sob forever- hadn’t used her Lucky Charm to fix the damage, but... was it possible that he could?

He raised his eyes to meet hers, a spark of hope flickering in him despite his attempts to kill it. If he was right…  _ no _ , he couldn’t give himself the luxury of hope. He would only be let down, like he had so many times throughout his life.

But Adrien couldn’t stop the question from escaping his lips. “Will I be able to bring her back?” he asked tentatively, hoping against hope. 

Tikki squeezed her eyes shut, her tiny shoulders trembling. “I don’t know,” she whispered. Opening her eyes again, she fixed him with her violet gaze, a turbulent sea of determination and grief and yes, the slightest sliver of hope. “But either way, we have to undo the akuma’s damage before more people are hurt.”

Adrien sucked in a shaky breath and rose to his feet. He turned to face Marinette, a fresh wave of grief swamping him at the sight of her bloodied body propped up against the stone wall. He knelt beside her and whispered, “I’m sorry, Milady, but this is something I have to do.” 

He reverently, and shakily, removed her earrings- first the right, then the left. Adrien knelt there a moment longer, and finally pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing again. 

There wasn’t much time left. 

He stepped out onto the edge of the rooftop balcony, surveying the grim, fiery scene before him. Tikki and Plagg both came to hover beside him, and Tikki turned to face him. “I’m ready, Adrien,” she whispered, the tears in her eyes matching the depths of grief in her voice. 

Adrien nodded, and carefully inserted the earrings into his ears. A small part of his mind whispered a thank-you to Gabriel for deciding years ago that modern models should all have their ears pierced. 

The weight of them in his ears felt wrong, but he steadied himself with a deep breath. Plagg, coming to hug his cheek, muttered, “Good luck, kid.” Adrien was overcome with a wave of fresh emotion at the uncommon display of affection from his kwami, and briefly hugged him back with a hand cupped to his cheek. But he knew he couldn’t stall much longer, and the fires were only spreading. 

Adrien turned back to look at Marinette, one last time. A tear slid down his cheek, but rather than allow himself to mourn- though  _ God _ , he wanted nothing less than to curl into a ball forever- he drew strength from the sight of her. “For you, Milady,” he whispered. 

Turning, Adrien steeled himself with one last breath and shouted defiantly, “Tikki,  _ spots on! _ ” 

The transformation washed over him, a familiar warmth that normally brought comfort; now, it was tinged with a wrongness that Adrien fought to ignore. This was Ladybug’s costume, Ladybug’s powers, and he… he was just an imposter. 

“Plagg, we have no time to lose,” he said, coughing as the smoke he had barely noticed before thickened overhead. This rooftop was relatively low, but he could tell from the shouts of citizens and the thundering of helicopter blades overhead that the situation was not good.

Using the yo-yo strapped to his waist, he swung his way over the street below and landed on top of the Arc de Triomphe. He surveyed the scene below, and was shaken to his core. They’d fought destructive villains before… but right now, Paris was in flames.

_ You’ve failed _ , that dark part of him resurfaced to whisper.  _ What are you without Ladybug?  _

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut as another tear traced its way down his cheek. That desperation, that fear, that weakness- he could use it. Rather than let it debilitate him, he would weaponize it and strike Hawkmoth down from the lofty perch the bastard had placed himself on. 

He was Adrien Agreste, the Protector of Paris, and he had a city to save. 

Steeled with his anger, his worry, and his concern, he accepted the red-and-black spotted screwdriver from Plagg. 

This would work. It  _ had  _ to work. 

Silencing the doubt inside him, Adrien threw the screwdriver as high as he could and hoarsely shouted, “ _ Miraculous Mr. Bug!” _

For a horrible second, nothing happened. 

But then the familiar cloud of magical ladybugs appeared, zipping over the rooftops of Paris, and Adrien fell to his knees, shaking with relief. The skies cleared, buildings were repaired, and flames were extinguished as the power of the Miraculous undid all of the damage. Paris would live to see another day. 

“Kid?”

Adrien exhaled as he stood up, turning to face his kwami. “Yeah, Plagg?”

Worry and relief mingled in his eyes as the cat-god purred, “Your lady’s waiting for you.”

Gasping, he whirled around to face the way he’d come… and sure enough, Marinette stood on the rooftop he’d left her on, silhouetted against the fading light of the Parisian sunset. 

In two seconds flat, he’d roped his way back to her, stumbling and nearly falling as he landed. He was shaking and laughing and crying as Marinette caught him. They sank together to the ground, barely five feet from where she’d died not ten minutes before. He banished that thought from his mind and focused on the girl in his arms. 

She was crying too, he realized as he wrapped her in a hug so tightly she probably couldn’t breathe. Not that it mattered- he was  _ never  _ letting go. 

“My lady,” he sobbed, deliriously happy. 

She pressed a kiss into his hair. “Oh,  _ chaton _ ,” she sighed, and a thrill of adoration shot through him. She pulled his face back to study his eyes, and an unexpected smirk lifted her lips through the tears on her face. “How are you still so clumsy with that yo-yo?”

Adrien gaped at her, shocked. “I - you -“

“I’m serious! It’s been three years, and you can still barely swing across a street.” Her bluebell eyes- oh, god, her  _ eyes _ \- were still shining with tears, but the dual affection and grief in them spoke volumes. 

He pulled her back into a hug, playful hurt coloring his voice. “And to think I was worried about you.”

She relaxed further into him, her legs and arms hopelessly intertwined with his. She pressed her forehead against his, and they sat there in silence until their tears subsided. When he finally felt in control enough to speak, Adrien exhaled and whispered, “Marinette, I can’t lose you like that again.”

She pulled back slightly, still in his arms but now able to look into his eyes. “Adrien…” her voice broke slightly on his name, and her cheeks flushed. It was all he could do not to kiss her- his name on her lips was  _ beautiful _ . 

She tried again. “Adrien, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it was like. If I ever lost you, I…” she trailed off, glancing away, and he tightened his embrace once more as she trembled. 

Marinette met his eyes again, and he was shocked at the steely determination in them. Again, he wondered how he’d managed to miss her, right in front of him, for  _ three years _ . 

“It won’t happen again,” she promised, and he knew the anger in her voice wasn’t directed at him. “We’re going to catch that son of a bitch.”

Adrien hissed. “Oh,  _ yes _ , we will.” He paused, and looked down. “Do you- do you want your suit back first?”

She threw back her head at that, laughing, and god, Adrien was floored. She was  _ ethereal _ . If he could bottle that laugh, he’d be drunk on the tiniest sip.

“Yes, kitty, I want my suit back,” she got out. “But… just hold me a little longer, okay?”

He nodded, and they sank farther into the embrace. They stayed like that- limbs, hearts, and lives intertwined- until the sun and stars and Paris faded away, until he was too old to remember a world beyond the one he held in his arms. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yes, it’s been forever since I posted the first chapter, but I finished! Honestly, I knew this would happen, and I also knew I never would’ve finished it if I hadn’t already posted the other two chapters.
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you liked it! And as always, comments and suggestions are welcome :)


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